


5 Times Catelyn didn't think of Brandon Stark

by Shining_M00nlight5679



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Awkward Flirting, Brandon Stark - Freeform, F/M, Feels, First Dates, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, I just love them, Ice Cream, Light Angst, Ned ans Cat are my babes, Oral Sex, Protective Siblings, Shy Ned Stark, Sister-Sister Relationship, Smut, Sweet, Swimming, and OTP, is talked about, sweet ned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:43:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27138872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shining_M00nlight5679/pseuds/Shining_M00nlight5679
Summary: Everybody thinks she is with Ned because of Brandon but they are wrong.Chapter One: First Date (Ned)Chapter Two: First Kiss (Lysa)Chapter Three: First Time (Lyanna)
Relationships: Brandon Stark/Catelyn Tully Stark, Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	1. First Date

It was her idea to go swimming. The river was familiar to her, she grew up with it even before she could walk her uncle would take her swimming, much to her dismay.  
She knew the river but this, this was unfamiliar. 

Dating Ned Stark was unfamiliar, dangerous territory. Not that Ned was dangerous even though when he scowled he could look that way. 

Over the years she got to know Ned quite well as a friend and one day she realised that she didn't just want to know him as a friend. She liked him more than a friend.  
When he walks into a room and suddenly he is the most important thing to her. When he gifts her with one of rare smiles and her heart skips a beat, that was not friendship that was more.

And now they both standing close to the river still in their clothes.  
Maybe swimming wasn't the best idea after all. To go swimming you need to lose a certain amount of clothes but it was her idea so she went through with it. 

She looked to her side, where Ned was standing and looking quite uncertain himself.  
So she pulled her dress down her shoulders and let it fall down to her ankles, stepped out of it and jumped into the river.  
She dove a few meters, returned to the surface and turned around to look at Ned. 

By now he had relieved himself of his shirt and Catelyn felt her cheeks turn red at the sight of his bare chest.  
"Come on Cat you are an adult woman who had sex before. You should not blush because of a little bit of bare skin" she thought to herself.  
To cool off her face and get rid of the color she dove underwater again. She was a good swimmer and she could hold her breath for about two minutes if she really wanted to. 

Suddenly something was pulling on her. A hand was on her arm and one around her waist. Her head was lifted above the surface.  
She panicked for a moment, not knowing who grabbed her, until she realized it was just Ned. 

"Cat!" he sounded panicked "are you ok? You were underwater so long I was afraid you were caught in the current or hurt yourself and couldn't get up" 

"Ned" Catelyn said and put her and on his chest to calm him down  
"I'm fine. I know how to swim in the river and I chose this spot because here is no real current. You don't have to worry."

"I'm sorry I should have known better but I couldn't see you and I just…"

"No, I'm sorry" she interrupted him "I didn't want to scare you" 

A long silence followed.  
Catelyn still had her hand on Neds chest and was half in his arm, she could feel his elevated heartbeat. It was probably from jumping into the water and diving after her but a small part of her hoped that it was because she was in his arms. 

She looked into his eyes. He had beautiful grey eyes. To people who didn't know Ned they looked cold but Catelyn knew if you looked, really looked there was a storm inside them.  
A storm of emotions which could be so intense that it could bring down whole countries if they wanted to. So she told him.

"Your eyes are really beautiful Ned, they are like a storm"

Ned looked down into the water seeing his own reflection. She could feel his body tense.

"They're like Brandon's" he said.

"What?!"

Ned looked up into her eyes again.

"My eyes, they look like Brandon's... What are you doing here with me Catelyn? Are you here because I remind you of Brandon. Because you couldn't have Brandon? Do you want to replace him with me or make him jealous?"

Catelyn felt the panic rise in her again.  
She tried to look into his eyes even more, if that was even possible.  
She put her hands on each side of his face and made sure it was turned towards her because she needed him to look into her eyes and see the truth.

"Ned Stark you listen to me. I am not here because of your brother.  
If I wanted to be with your brother I'd be with your brother.  
I know this is weird. I know a lot of people will judge us but I am not in love with your brother and I'm not trying to replace him. 

I like being with you Ned. Every moment I spend with you makes me so unbelievably happy and if somebody would have asked me in the last few weeks where I wanna be the most I would have told them I want to be with you.

I am not stupid, I know you look a lot like Brandon but that it is not why I want to be with you.  
I want to be with you because you are kind and sweet and when you smile it's like.. like you are the light in the dark. There is nowhere else I can look than you because you make my world light up.  
And I swear to you that before you brought him up I wasn't even thinking about Brandon for one second"

Ned just stared at her.

"And now you think I am a total freak because who says something like that on a first date. Oh my god."

She wanted to turn away, to dive into the water and never come up again. But Ned grabbed her waist a little bit harder to stop her.

"I would never think you are a freak. I think you are amazing. And I think your eyes are beautiful too and I'm sorry I brought up Brandon.  
I'm also sorry that I am not better at this. What you just told me was so sweet and I want to tell you the same because I do, I do feel the same but I can't find the words like you did. But I will try to do it better."

Cat smiled.  
"You don't have to. It was good enough." 

Cat didn't lose her smile for the whole day until her head hit the pillow and she fell asleep with the same smile still on her lips. 

No Brandon occupied her mind only Ned.


	2. First Kiss

They went on a few dates by now and nothing had happened beside a few kisses on the cheek. She wasn't sure what it was about. 

The rationale part of her brain was telling her that Ned was just a little bit shy and that he had respect for her. But the more insecure of her brain, the part that spoke to her when she was in bed at night, told her that maybe he wasn't that interested after all and that maybe by still going out with her he is only humoring her. 

Most of the time this voice disappeared when she finally saw Ned again and he smiled to greet her.   
But today was the fifth time they went out and she just couldn't ban the evil thoughts. 

"Maybe I'm just not pretty enough or not smart enough for him" 

Ned was one of the most amazing people Cat ever met in her life and she felt that if he didn't approve of her for some reason that something must be wrong with her.   
Which was bad, she told herself. She never thought of herself as this woman who needed a man's approval to be happy or to feel valuable and she didn't want to be.   
Yet she couldn't shake it. She didn't want some men's approval. She wanted one man's approval and that was Ned. 

Today they walked through the park and stopped for ice cream. 

"One scoop of strawberry ice cream with sprinkles, please" she ordered.

"For me a scoop of yogurt, please" Ned said. 

The iceman handed the ice over to Ned who passed it onto Cat, so he could pay.   
She already started eating her ice when Ned turned back to her and a small amused smile appeared on his face.

"What?" Catelyn asked.

"Nothing, it's just sprinkles on your ice they remind me of your freckles. Very fitting choice un ice cream if you ask me" the young Stark answered. 

"Do you like sprinkles then?" the redhead tried to flirt. 

"Not really," Ned said.

Her face fell a little bit. 

"Oh" he said, realizing what she meant   
"I meant... on ice cream... it's too sweet for my taste but I like your sprinkles,.. I mean your freckles… I like your freckles.. they're really pretty. Your whole face is… pretty I mean. Actually, more like beautiful but I think you know that." 

By the end of his talk his face turned a little bit red and his hand went up to grab us back and look on the ground. 

"And I said, I would try to get better at telling you nice things and not to stutter like and idiot"

"Oh Ned I would never think of you as an idiot. And thank you for telling me that I'm beautiful it is great to hear that you like the way I look"

His face turned into a scowl. 

"I like so much more about you than the way you look Cat. You are smart and a very generous person.   
You care for family deeply and when you let someone into your heart you try to protect and help them with all you got. Everyday since we met you amaze me Catelyn Tully.   
And while your beauty makes people turn around the way you are makes people never want to turn away again. And I still can't believe that from all the people who turn around when you walk by you choose me as the person to stop by and look back at."

"Oh wow Ned, I think you just managed to give me one of the best romantic speeches I ever heard" Catelyn said and stared into Ned's eyes. 

It was always his eyes where she found the truth. He looked back into her river blue eyes.   
Ned lifted his hand to put it on her cheek and stroke her face carefully with his thumb. 

Cat wanted to savor this moment so that it may never end. She took both if her own hands to lay them on his face.

Suddenly he jerked back and the moment was broken. The Tully was shocked and wondered what went wrong when she remembered that she still held her ice cream when she wanted to touch his face. 

Now the dessert was half on Neds face and the other half on the ground together with Neds own ice cream which he must have dropped in shock from getting frozen cream smashed into his face.

"Oh my God Ned! I'm so sorry I totally forgot about the ice cream" she yelled a little bit panicked and tried to find some tissues in her purse to clean his face.

"It's ok Cat. Nothing bad happened" he graciously took the tissue, she handed him.

"Well now who is the idiot? I am pretty sure I earned that title for today" she smiled at him.

"Maybe we should just stop calling ourselves idiots. Because when you told me I'm not an idiot I believed you and I'm telling you you are definitely not an idiot either. So let's try to have a nice rest date"

"Yes, let's do that" she agreed.

They walked the rest of the day through the park and Ned took her hand into his and held it the whole time till they arrived at the crossroad where they would part. 

"I had a really good time today Cat, as always with you"

"Even though you were viciously attacked with ice cream?"

"Yes" he almost whispered. 

His eyes wandered down from her eyes to her lips. He swallowed nervously.

"Cat? May I kiss you?"

"Yes, you may'' she whispered back. 

Her face so close to his that she could feel his breath on her lips already.   
His hands left hers and he moved them up her arms until he reached her shoulders. On instinct she mimicked his motion and put her arms around his neck.   
His hands had reached her face again. Just like he did in the park he moved his fingers over her face. His thumb was on her lips and she opened her mouth slightly. 

Then he leaned in and finally his lips were on hers. His lips were soft and his beard was a little bit scratchy but it existed her to feel the scratch of his beard on her face. 

He started to move his lips against her slowly like testing the limits. But she waited for this moment for a long time. She didn't need testing, she knew she wanted this so she moved her lips and nibbled on Neds lip. 

Her tongue moved into his mouth and started to explode. It was exciting and accelerating and she thought she might explode. 

When the kiss ended Ned geld her against him. Her head was directly over his heart and she heard his heartbeat and this time she definitely knew what was responsible for that.

"So?" Her little sister asked after Cat told her what happened today   
"How did he measure up?"

"Well it was just so amazing Lysa. I don't even know how to describe it" 

"Yeah but I meant in comparison" 

"In comparison to Brandon of course" the younger Tukky said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What do you mean by that Lysa? Believe it or not Brandon Stark was the last thing on my mind today" she answered in rage. 

Why do people always need to mention Brandon?

"Come on Cat now don't play stupid. Everybody knows the only reason you are dating Ned is to replace his brother. I mean why else would someone date an ice block like him" Lysa said, sounding smug.

"How dare you say something like that!!   
Ned Stark is his own person! He is not the replacement for anyone. He is his own amazing person who deserves respect and not to be used as a second choice.   
And how dare you think like that of me. That I would treat another person with so much utter disrespect!"

"Oh come of your high horse, Cat. You always go for the sweet things you want and when you're precious Brandon left you, you just grabbed the next best thing." Lysa's voice was almost poisonous.

Catelyn just got up and left. 

She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to tell Lysa again that she left Brandon or that Ned was better than Brandon could ever hope to be, because it didn't matter. 

Lysa didn't need to understand as long as she and Ned understood and she wouldn't let Lysa or memories of Brandon ruin her perfect day with Ned. She just went back in time into her head to relive the day until she smiled again at the memory of their kids

Cat didn't lose her smile for the whole day until her head hit the pillow and she fell asleep with the same smile still on her lips.

No Brandon occupied her mind, only Ned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me what you think. 
> 
> I will try to expand my vocabulary because if I write the word said one more time I'm gonna go crazy.


	3. First time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cat and Ned sleep with eachother for the first time and Lyanna is not happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this took 5 months but I never wrote smut before and I struggled with it. Hope you still like it.

They were on the couch in Neds living room watching a movie. It wasn't that interesting of a movie and halfway through their attention shifted. 

Ned laid on the couch with Cat in his arms next to him. One arm was placed around her while the other held her hand on her stomach. For about ten minutes Ned had been stroking the back of her hand with his thumb and brushing the other through her hair. 

Cat pulled her hand away from Ned to adjust the volume of the TV. His hand was no longer on top of hers but was now resting on her stomach. She put his hand on top of his to keep it in place liking the sensation of his hand on her body. 

Slowly his hand moved again this time stroking her stomach. Cat started to feel the butterflies assembling inside of her. She turned her head away from the TV and towards Ned and started to give small kisses to his bearded cheek. His stubble felt very pleasant on her lips. 

She worked her way along his strong jaw line until she finally found his lips. A soft moan escaped her when she met her goal. To get a better angle she moved her body on top of him and applied more pressure on to his lips. 

Ned met her kiss by running his tongue over her lips. Cat was eager enough to open her mouth and in turn using her own tongue. Now it was Neds turn to moan, his hand grabbed her hair a little tighter than before. While Cat was using one arm to make sure that she stayed in her position without squishing him under her, her other arm was free and moved it to his hip. 

She felt exactly where his shirt stopped so she decided to slowly slide her hand beneath it. She could feel his muscles tense because of her touch and he hissed. Her hand moved up higher and she lowered her hip. 

She needed to be closer to him and the clothes they were wearing were stopping her from her from feeling him completely. She spared her legs so she could sit up in his lap and use her other hand to try to get him out of his shirt. Even Though she could definitely feel him harder under her, Ned looked a little bit puzzled. Maybe she was being too forward or she was doing something wrong, she thought to herself.

"Is everything ok Ned? Do you not want this? Or is this too fast?" she asked now unsure of herself.

"No, everything is fine, this is splendid" he said.

She must have looked not convinced so he continued.

"I love you Cat" Ned said and stared into her blue eyes "and I really want to do this, but only if you feel ready" 

"I feel great Ned, you don't need to worry so much. I love you too and I really wanna do this" Cat told him. 

He was so sweet, always thinking about her feelings and making sure she was fine. She knew she wasn't the most experienced person when it came to sex but she wasn't exactly a virgin either. 

The young Tully woman knew that sex wasn't a big deal to a lot of people anymore and she respected that. But for her, to share her body with another person like that, she wanted to feel something for this person. She planned her future with Ned in it and knew he wanted one with her as well. So if it goes according to plan she would sleep with him more than a few times in her life and she wanted their first time together to mean something. Cat didn't need it to be perfect or amazing but she wanted it to be more than just the fulfilment of Iust between two people.

"Maybe we should move to your bedroom," she suggested. 

"Yeah" he agreed. To her big surprise he lifted her up in his arms and actually carried her to his room. She had to laugh to let some of the happiness out that was building up inside her or she might have exploded.

Ned looked at her with a little smile on his lips. He looked like he knew something she didn't. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

"Do you have any idea just how beautiful you are? Because I know I have never been so entranced by anyone's beauty like I have been by yours."

And at that she could do nothing but kiss him again. Her sweet Ned. He lowered her onto his bed, following immediately. Now their position was reversed and he was on top of her as their kissing became more intense. She slit her hands under his shirt again to finish the task she hadn't managed to complete the first time. 

When his shirt was off she took a moment to appreciate the view. He had a really nice body. His chest and abs were muscular but not in an unnatural way. Ned looked back at her and their eyes met trying to figure out the next step. She decided that losing her dress next was the best course of action because it seemed like it was the most complicated piece of clothing between them, getting it out of the way early was probably a good idea.

"Could you help me with the zipper of my dress?" she asked and turned around so Ned could reach the back of her dress and open it.  
After a few moments of trying to get her dress off she realised it didn’t work lying down. She got up and pulled her dress off. At that moment she really thought that clothes were totally overrated and complicated, so she took off her bra and slipped out of the panties as well. Neds eyes never left her and were now running all over her body. 

"Well are you just gonna look at me or are you going to get even?" she asked.

He didn't say anything at that but he started to unbutton his pants, his eyes still on her. He pushed down his pants and underwear both at ones and his penis sprung free for Cat to look at. She had felt him through her clothes while making out a few times before but never seen it. It was a nice cock, she thought to herself. She guessed it was of pretty average size and definitely had a nice aesthetic. She was shortly distracted by the fact that Ned seemed to struggle getting off his socks and she had to smile a little bit. 

They were both completely naked. Cat sat back down on the bed next to Ned. This time it was Ned that kissed her cheek and worked his way around her face but his goal was not her lips or at least not the ones belonging to her mouth. 

His lips traveled down her neck over the top of her breasts and then they made a stop on her nipples. First he licked over them, then he took her left one in his mouth and sucked on it. His right hand was busy stroking over her right breast and playing with the nipple. His left hand traveled further down and slipped his fingers carefully through her folds.  
His mouth slowly followed his hand and when it finally found where he wanted to go he pressed his lips into her and tried to move them. It was obvious that he hadn't done this too often before. But what was way more important, it was also obvious that he wanted to do a good job at it. Both his hands and lips were moving too carefully. It was nice but not enough. She wasn't sure if she should say something or not. She didn't wanna hurt his feelings. But Ned seemed to notice that something wasn't quite right by himself.

"Is that good? Should I do something different?" he asked, looking up.

"It's good" she said and it was true " but you can put more pressure on it. I'm not gonna break"

She felt the change immediately. His tongue now pressed down harder on her than before and she could finally feel the strength of his fingers when he started entering her with them, one at a time.  
She had moaned ever since his lips had started kissing her skin but when his tongue moved to the right and landed on the perfect spot she let out a scream. This seemed to motivate Ned and he started to suck and lap at her, his fingers still moving into her until she felt her body tense up and then release. 

She laid on her back now breathless and tried to calm down again. Ned moved up from the position he had been in and arranged himself above her so he could look upon her face.

"Was that good for you?" Ned asked. 

"Yes, it was good" she said and took his face in her hands and kissed him again.

His lips now tasted different, they tasted like her. The kiss became more heated again rather quickly and Ned started grinding against her hip a little bit. Her hand wandered from his face to his back so she could pull him even closer to her. His hand found her clit again and rubbed it. 

"Do you want to…" he panted.

"Yes!" she moaned into his neck, kissing and sucking on it. She spread her legs wider to make more room for him.  
He positioned himself and slowly pushed into her. It felt so good to finally have him as close as possible to her even though she needed some time to adjust to the stretching. 

When she felt ready she started to move her hip to encourage him to do the same and he did. First carefully and slowly but then with increasing speed and strength. When she grabbed his ass to help him push into her in the right angle, her pleasure went up again. She could hear Neds breath becoming faster and heavier. She was pretty sure she heard him growl just shortly before he said.

"I think I'm going to…" he couldn't finish the sentence overwhelmed by his orgasm. He collapsed onto her but rolled of pretty quickly.  
She turned to look at his face and hoped to see a blissful expression on his face but to her dissapointment she saw him frowning. Maybe it wasn't good for him?

"Is everything alright?" "I'm sorry Cat" they said at the same moment.

"What are you sorry for?" she really couldn't fathom for what he was apologising.

"I couldn't give you pleasure and I didn't warn you before" he apologized.

"Oh, my love. You did give me pleasure. Or did you miss it?"

"I mean while we were…"

"Oh well it happens, don't worry too much Ned. This was our first time together, we have time to learn and to get to know each other, don't we?"

"Yes we do" he said. Finally he looked at her with a happy expression on his face and pulled her into his arms where she fell asleep.

The next morning Cat was standing in Neds kitchen trying to find a glass of water when the door was pushed open and a very moody Lyanna walked in.

"Ned? Are you here?" she yelled into the apartment.

"He is still sleeping" Cat told her.

Lyanna hadn't noticed her until this moment and her face hardened. She was looking at Cat with an expression as if she suspected she might be here to steal something.

"What are you doing here, at this time?" Neds sister asked, running her eyes over Cat. Cat herself was pretty sure that her appearance answered the question without words. 

Lyanna raised her eyebrows. 

"You slept here" she stated, her voice becoming more hostile. 

Cat got nervous and blushed but nodded. Obviously Lyanna wasn't pleased and maybe even pissed off and Cat wasn't quite sure why. But her face formed in an outward cruel expression.

"So, how good did Ned fuck you compared to Brandon?" Lyanna asked.

Cat could just stare at her. She couldn't believe Lyanna just asked this question but Lyanna continued.

"Well I guess it doesn't matter to you anyway right? Since you're just using Ned to make Brandon jealous! I know what game you're playing. You think if you can make Brandon jealous enough he comes back to you and you're using Ned to do it! But let me tell you something Tully. This is not ok! Ned deserves better than that. He is a good person and he shouldn't get his heart shattered by a little bitch desperately trying to get his brother back! And Ned must have been an easy target right? He wants to believe in the good in everyone even if he shouldn't and you took advantage of that"

Cat couldn't take it anymore, she could feel tears running down her cheeks. 

"How dare you… what are you even… why would you… You know nothing me and Ned or Brandon" she finally found some words.

"Oh I know plenty!" Lyanna replied with confidence.

"Really? Because if you would actually know anything about our situation you would know that I left Brandon and not the other way around but I guess Brandons ego couldn't handle that he had been dumped.  
And if you would know anything you would know that I love Ned with all my heart and I would never do anything to hurt him.  
You would know that you don't have to tell me that Ned is a good person because I know what kind of a person he is. He is sweet and attentive and smart and he wants the best for people he loves.  
Would you know anything, you would know how lucky and happy I feel that I belong to the people he loves because no one is luckier than the people who are loved by him.  
You would not be standing here and saying those awful things about me and your brother if you actually knew anything." Her tears had stopped while talking and she wasn't nervous anymore. She knew what she and Ned had and neither Brandon nor Lyannas words could come between them.

Lyanna stared quietly at her, lost in words. It must have been a first for the Stark girl. Cat could see a little bit of shame in Lyannas eyes but she knew she wouldn't hear an apology. The girl saw herself in the right, trying to protect her brother and even if her accusations were false she would stubbornly hold on to this justification for her treatment of Cat. 

"Well then, tell Ned I borrowed his car. It will be back by tomorrow morning " Lyanna grabbed the car keys out of a bowl next to the door and walked out of the door but before she closed it behind herself she turned around and said:

"Bye Tully I hope to see you soon." and Cat knew it was the closest thing to an acceptance of hers and Neds relationship she would get from Lyanna Stark.

After Cat heard Neds car drive away she went to the bathroom to wipe the dried tears of her face and then went back to bed snuggling against the still in deep slumber Ned.  
She fell asleep again looking at Ned. Lyannas words were already forgotten.

No Brandon occupied her mind, only Ned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weird thoughts I had while writing this story.
> 
> Should I describe Cats eye color if it's her Pov?  
> This is the worst  
> Oh my god, I'm gonna be in a tiktok as an example for worst sex scenes ever written  
> Can other people even understand what position I'm trying to describe? I don't think so  
> Oh my god this story has no flow  
> Do you know more than five words in English!!!,  
> Thinking about me and my friends discussing dick pics, I'm pretty sure I have no idea how normal people describe dicks  
> How many times did I write the word so? OH 36 TIMES!!!


End file.
